


Slow Down, Turbo

by cleverusernameloading



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Concussions, Fluff, I sure can't, M/M, and fitz is like tiny, cutie fitz, lots of fluff, mack is so big does he even know, student mack, teacher jemma, who can even do titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-07-01
Packaged: 2018-04-07 01:51:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4244979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleverusernameloading/pseuds/cleverusernameloading
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Talking to attractive people while concussed is a bad idea</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow Down, Turbo

**Author's Note:**

> I literally have three (three!) other fics that I should be working on right now but what am I doing? writing a lame fitzmack one-shot
> 
> I finished AoS season two today (I know I know took me long enough) and I had just been lowkey shipping these two but all it took was one fic (they had a _dog_ , guys) and they got upped to OTP status p quickly so yeah
> 
> also I wrote this in 6.5 hours (with breaks, not all at once) so any mistakes are mine

“Shoot shoot shoot shoot shootshootshootshoot I am so dead I am so so dead Fitz why did you let yourself get distracted by the dog?” Fitz mutters under his breath as he sprints through the halls. “Jemma is going to _kill_ you Fitz you are so _dead_ you are an awful TA.”  


He’s just about to round the corner into the quad when he collides solidly and painfully with what he suspects is a wall that just moved. The back of his head starts to throb where it hit the floor, but Fitz doesn’t waste time worrying about that, instead standing back up immediately and…  


“Whoa, where are you going, Turbo?” says a voice (a very nice voice) belonging to none of the few people Fitz actually knows. Fitz stops in complete surprise and looks over to see that it was not, in fact, a wall that he ran into, but a very nice-looking (and very muscled) man who looks like he might be around Fitz’s age.  


“Uh, I have this class, I’m a TA, I’m going to be late, I, uh…” Fitz finds himself struggling for words and suddenly dizzy. “Uh...Jemma. Simmons! Doctor Simmons!”  


“The new bio professor?” the man asks, looking at him with concern (blurred concern, Fitz realizes, which probably isn’t good).  


“Uh, yes. Her.” Fitz rubs his head, but the throbbing just gets worse. Yeah, the man is very, very attractive, but that doesn't warrant this reaction. What's going on? “I need to-I need to get t’ her class.”  


"Buddy, what you need to do is sit down," the man says firmly, taking his arm. "You're swaying."  


"I am?" Fitz says vaguely, but the man has already led him to the nearest bench and all but forced him down. "You know, you have...you have really impressive muscles. Why did I say that? I don't know. It's true, though. Ahhhh. I need to stop."  


The man snorts. "I think you have a concussion, Turbo."  


"That's not my name," Fitz objects, although it takes a few seconds, which is unusual for him. "And I'm...I'm fine. I'm great. Fantastic. I need to go. Jemma's already going to be mad." He tries to stand, but one of the man's arms pushes him back down.  


"I'm taking you to the campus nurse. Whatever your name is. Doctor Simmons will understand," the man says reassuringly. His voice is really nice to listen to. "Come on."  


Fitz allows himself to be pulled back up and would have fallen if not for the man's steadying hands. "Fitz. My name is Fitz. Well, my name is Leopold, but that's horrid. I don't know what my parents were thinking, honestly. So...just-just call me Fitz." _You're babbling again, Fitz_ , he tells himself. Stop it.  


The man laughs and starts leading him to the main building. "You know, I thought my name was bad, but I think you've got me beat. Alphonso Mackenzie. Doesn't that suck? You can just call me Mack, though."  


"Mack. Alright." It's a nice name. Almost as nice as him.  


"Sorry, what?"  


Fitz freezes. "Did I just-did I just say that out loud?"  


"You are more concussed than I thought, Fitz," Mack says, sounding like he's holding back a laugh. "I appreciate it, though."  


"Hey, uh, Mack, are you-are you a student here? I'm just wondering because you're probably missing a class too right now and-"  


"Slow down. Yeah, I'm a student, but I don't have a class right now. I'm studying mechanics. Only a half-day subject."  


"Hey, I have a doctorate in-in mechanical engineering." Fitz says it before he can stop himself, then mentally curses. Now Mack is going to know he's some kind of genius freak. Fitz says goodbye to any small chance he may have had.  


"What are you, nineteen?" Mack doesn't sound rude, just surprised.  


"I'll have you know I'm twenty. I'm just small," Fitz says quickly, almost offended. "It's not my fault." He quickly decides that this is the last time he is speaking to an attractive person while concussed.  


"Whoa, there. I was just wondering. I'm twenty-one and I barely have an associate degree."  


"Well, I, uh...I graduated secondary--ah, high school early and decided to come here for university."  


Mack pulls open the door as they get to the main building and gently pushes Fitz in, keeping a hand on Fitz's arm the whole time. Fitz knows it's just in case he falls, but he certainly wouldn't object if it happens again. "That's cool, Turbo."  


Unsure of exactly how to respond, Fitz just smiles vaguely. "Uh, what kind of mechanics?"  


"Advanced car mechanics. I almost just went to a technical school, but I wanted something more in-depth with the possibility of adding an emphasis in something," Mack replies immediately, like he's said it many times before.  


"Well, you chose a good place. After all, I'm here," Fitz says with what's probably a ridiculous grin. What are you doing, Fitz, he groans inwardly.  


"You're right. You are." Mack leads him into the nurse's room. She takes one look and immediately stands up to help support Fitz.  


"What happened?"  


"He accidentally ran into me and fell," Mack explains. "I think he has a concussion."  


"I think you're right," the nurse agrees. "Here, sit down. You can go if you want." The last part is addressed to Mack, and for a split second Fitz is afraid that the other man is going to leave.  


_Why do you even care?_ Fitz asks himself  


_Because he's hot_ , he silently admits.  


"Nah, I'll stay," Mack says with a smile."Don't want Turbo here getting himself into more trouble."  


The nurse gives Fitz ice for his head and strict no-driving, no-sleeping-more-than-two-hours, no-strenuous-activity, lots-of-rest instructions. Fitz just nods through it all.  


"Can I still TA for my friend's class?" he asks tentatively. He doesn't want to let Jemma down.  


"Absolutely not," the nurse objects immediately and forcefully. "Go home and get some rest. Did you drive here?"  


"Yeah, I did," Fitz replies.  


"Well, I don't want you driving, so...any chance your friend could drive you home?"  


"We're not really...we're not really friends," Fitz says quickly.  


"Nah, it's fine, Fitz," Mack says dismissively. "I can do it. I don't have any classes the rest of the day. Do you want to take your car?"  


Fitz bites his lip. "How will you get back?"  


"Where do you live?"  


"Um...those new apartments on Fifth."  


Mack raises his eyebrows. "I just live across the street. We can put my bike on your car and I'll just walk home when I'm done."  


"Okay. Alright. That...that makes sense." The headache is finally fading, but Fitz is suddenly exhausted. "Miss...uh, Miss Gray, can you make sure Doctor Simmons knows what happened?" he asks the nurse.  


"Yeah, that's no problem. Be careful,okay?"  


"Got it."

* * *

Mack keeps a careful eye on Fitz as he leads Mack to his car. The kid's cute, definitely, and Mack almost wants to ask him out. However, asking out a concussed person feels like cheating. Is any flirting that may have been happening or possibly will happen even legit?  


"Uh, it's this one," Fitz says, gesturing to, of all things, a silver Prius. Mack holds back a laugh (with difficulty).  


"Keys?"  


"Eh, they're in my pocket." Fitz calmly taps the driver's handle and the car audibly unlocks. "It'll start as long as they're in the car."  


"Oh, yeah," Mack says, inwardly shaking his head at Fitz's casualness. "I forgot these things do that."  


"It's nice. I don't know why Priuses get so much hate, honestly." Fitz walks to the other side of the car and gets in. "The brake is really touchy, though. Just a warning."  


"I've probably dealt with worse," Mack replies, climbing in on his own side. And his accent is so nice...  


Fitz nods, eyelids drooping. Mack checks the time to make sure he can wake the other man up before the two-hour mark.  


The car starts more quietly than Mack expects, but he likes it. He pulls out of the parking space (backup camera--nice) and starts driving to where Fitz said he lived.  


By the time he gets there, Fitz is completely out. Mack considers waking him up, but only briefly. He looks so peaceful, sitting there.  


So when Mack gets out of the car, he heads straight for the other side and gently lifts Fitz up. He barely stirs.  


"Dang, Turbo, you _are_ small," Mack says softly, gingerly reaching into Fitz's jacket pocket for his keys. Apartment 101. Good, that means Mack doesn't have to carry Fitz up any stairs.  


Somehow, he manages to unlock the door without dropping Fitz. The apartment is small, barely decorated, and a complete mess. Mack shakes his head and clears off the couch before laying Fitz down. There's not quite enough room for Mack to sit next to him, so he just lets Fitz's head rest against his leg. He almost starts running his fingers through Fitz's curls, but decides quickly that at this point that would be very weird.  


He's just starting to relax when a phone rings very loudly, startling him. Fitz immediately jerks awake, almost hitting his head on Mack's arm, and looks around in confusion.  


"How'd I get in here?"  


"I carried you," Mack explains.  


He chooses to ignore the fact that Fitz turns bright red. "Hold on, I'll answer that," Fitz says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a phone, which he answers with, "I'm fine, Jemma."  


There's a rather lengthy pause, which Mack assumes is Doctor Simmons expressing concern.  


"I'm at home, Jemma. Mack--uh, this student I met--he drove me. Jemma, I told you. I'm perfectly alright. Just have a headache and very vague nausea. Yes, you're right, a concussion. Yes, Jemma. No, you don't. Yes. Mmhmm. Yeah. Okay. Bye." Fitz hangs up and sighs. "Honestly, she worries about me too much."  


"Are you two together?" Mack asks suddenly, surprising even himself.  


"Jemma and I? Nah. We're just friends. No girlfriend for me." Fitz yawns. "Or boyfriend, for that matter. What about you?"  


"Completely single for three months now. My last boyfriend was a jerk, so I've been kind of steering clear." Mack watches Fitz carefully, waiting for a reaction to the word _boyfriend_

"Boyfriend? Oh, I, uh..." For a moment, Mack is afraid that he just made a huge mistake. But, Fitz continues, "I get that. I had a boyfriend who tried to kill Jemma and me. And kidnapped our friend, actually. He's in prison now, which is good." His face flushes even redder than it had been before.  


Mack inwardly grins. So, Fitz is into guys. "Hey, you wanna go back to sleep?" he asks. "I'll make sure to wake you up."  


"Nah, I wouldn't want to make you stay," Fitz replies.  


"It's no problem, Turbo," Mack says easily. "Go ahead. You can even use my leg again, although my shoulder might be more comfortable." Is he _flirting_? Mack can't believe himself.  


Fitz looks at him for a second before only semi-awkwardly nestling his head into Mack's shoulder. "You're really warm," Fitz mumbles. "Is that even healthy?"  


Mack laughs. "Go to sleep, Turbo."  


"That's still not my name," Fitz objects, but it's halfhearted.  


He's asleep in minutes.  


Unintentionally, Mack matches his breathing to Fitz's.

* * *

When Fitz wakes up, there's a split second where all he can think is that he _knows_ something good happened. It lifts every part of him, filling him with complete joy.  


And that's when he realizes Mack is gone.  


Fitz looks around, and suddenly Jemma descends on him. "Fitz, you're awake!" she says, handing him a mug. "How do you feel?"  


"Well, my head still hurts, but other than that I'm...I'm fantastic." He takes the mug and inhales deeply. Peppermint hot chocolate. His favorite. "Hey, uh, where'd Mack go?" he asks, trying to sound casual.  


"Oh, he went home," Jemma explains. Probably seeing the look of disappointment on Fitz's face, she pulls a post-it note off the coffee table. "But, he did leave this."  


Fitz takes it as quickly as he can.  


_Don't get any more concussions, Turbo_ , it says, and underneath there's a scribbled phone number.  


Fitz feels a smile spread across his face.

* * *

Two days later, Mack is just leaving his class when his phone starts ringing. He pulls it out, sees that it's from an unknown number, and immediately feels hope well up inside. Is Fitz finally calling him?  


"Hello?" he says, trying to keep from smiling.  


"Uh, hey, Mack? This is Fitz."  


Mack grins broadly. "Well, I figured. You're the only Scottish friend I have."  


"Well, I, uh...I was just wondering...if...uh...maybeyouwanttogogetcoffeesometime?" Fitz says all in one breath. "I mean, we don't have to if-"  


"Fitz, that sounds great," Mack interrupts. "Are you free right now?"  


"Uh, yeah, actually."  


"Great. How about that new place down the street from where we live?"  


"Alright." Mack can hear Fitz's smile, which just makes his own smile widen. "I'll meet you there as soon as I can."

**Author's Note:**

> literally in the middle of writing this I googled the ship and started shoving pictures in my friend's face and chanting "they're in love they're in love they'RE IN LOVE" repeatedly I think she's regretting inviting me over


End file.
